Royal Malewane

Situated in the quieter southeast of the reserve, Royal Malewane is a high-end lodge with elegant and intimate public areas including a small swimming pool and an extensive spa facility with a much larger lap swimming pool. Guest accommodation is in six suite rooms and two family units, all with private plunge pools. There is also a separate six bedroom villa which can operate completely independently of the rest of the lodge. The hosting is to a very high level.

Activities are centred on vehicle safari and walking safari, plus extensive spa treatments. It is also possible to do more distant excursions to various local wildlife projects and even to a local golf course. Wildlife is reliable year round.

The main potential downsides are the very high prices, the very heavy design of the lodge and the potential for adverse weather conditions Nov/Mar. Also, as with almost all the lodges in this area, different groups of guests are joined together on safari activities, unless you pre-book a private vehicle at significant additional cost.

Thornybush is quite small fully fenced reserve which contains a relatively high density of camps and vehicles. We find that the presence of fence lines, overhead telephone cables and road signs does detract significantly from the sense of wilderness, although that is true of almost all of Kruger.